1. Field
The present invention generally relates to implants and more particularly to bodily implants and their methods of delivery and placement into a patient's body for the treatment of pelvic floor repair.
2. Description of the Related Art
Genital prolapse or pelvic floor prolapse is the protrusion of pelvic organs into or out of the vaginal canal. Pelvic floor prolapse affects many women and many of them undergo at least one reconstructive pelvic surgery in their lifetime. Many of the cases may be the result of damage to the vaginal and pelvic support tissue by stretching or tearing of the connective tissue within the pelvic space due to childbirth, age, obesity, post-menopausal conditions or chronically elevated intra-abdominal pressure. The results are the distention of organs such as the bladder and rectum, into the vagina, as well as various stages of vaginal avulsion.
Surgical therapy may be performed for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse. Such surgeries for prolapse treatment may include plication of the torn connective tissues and re-suspension of the vagina. Some traditional suspension techniques include utero-sacral suspension and sacrospinus ligament suspension. Some procedures for vaginal suspension include sacrocolpopexy, where the vagina is suspended to the sacral promontory with an implanted graft material.
Hysterectomy may be performed before conducting sacrocolpopexy. It involves surgical removal of the uterus so that the bodily implant can be attached properly to the anterior and posterior vaginal walls. Hysterectomy may be total (removal of the cervix and the uterus) or partial (removal of the uterus while leaving the cervix intact). This may be an undesirable outcome of pelvic floor repair as removal of the uterus can create many complications and render the patient unable to bear children. Therefore, many women do not prefer removal of the uterus.
Therefore, a medical device and a method for placing the medical device within the patient's body is required that overcomes the need of removal of the uterus through either total or partial hysterectomy.